public policy

Decisions coming soon on California broadband bills

7 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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Not quite yet.

Sunday is the last day for California governor Jerry Brown to either veto bills passed by the legislature this summer, or allow them to become law. Amongst the measures in the big stack on his desk right now are several that will affect broadband service and infrastructure, particularly in regards to how it’s regulated.

The bill with the most potential impact is assembly bill 57, which would put teeth in the Federal Communications Commission shot clock for wireless permits.… More

Charter tells New York regulators it'll upgrade redlined residents if it's allow to buy Time Warner

6 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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As in California, Charter Communications is asking New York state regulators for permission to buy Time Warner cable systems. New York Public Service Commission staff have identified markets where both companies operate, but have not fully built out digital systems, and are recommending, among other things, that Charter be required to upgrade all of its customers – old and new – if the deal is allowed to go through…

New Charter should be required to develop a strategic implementation plan to build-out its all-digital network to the remaining unserved or under-served Charter and Time Warner franchise areas in New York.

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New CPUC rules spell out proper behavior for commissioners

5 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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No chewing gum, either.

Follow the law, do your job and be polite. That’s the boiled down substance of most of a six page code of conduct that was approved last week by the California Public Utilities Commission. It applies to the commissioners themselves and they voted unanimously in favor of it, after developing it in committee meetings over the past few months. The document repeatedly admonishes commissioners to be respectful, to be civil and professional, and to “refrain from belligerent comments, shouting, or actions that could be construed as threatening or intimidating”.… More

Don't put all your fiber in one conduit, study says

4 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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The study shows where to find the main conduit routes in the U.S. Click for more.

A study by four researchers – Ramakrishnan Durairajan, Paul Barford, Joel Sommers and Walter Willinger – comes to the conclusion that the more conduit is shared by different fiber optic network operators, the greater the risk of disruption, essentially due to the fact that one careless backhoe operator can take out several key routes all at once. It’s a counter-argument, they say, to those (such as myself) who push for policies that encourage installing as much and as many fiber strands as possible any time a street is cut open…

A striking characteristic of the constructed US long-haul fiber-optic network is a significant amount of observed infrastructure sharing.

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Federal broadband funding guide is mostly old news

3 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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Click to read it for yourself.

A new booklet published by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration outlining ways to finance broadband projects contains no surprises. It’s a summary of federal programs that fund, or might fund, broadband infrastructure and it’s useful as a reference. But there’s no new money on the table, and many of the programs listed are either restricted in scope – Appalachia or tribal areas, for example – or are narrowly focused on specific users, such as libraries or public housing residents.… More

Wireless local loop is looking faster, says AT&T

2 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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Might work fine here.

AT&T is starting to position its wireless substitute for wireline broadband service as able to meet the Federal Communication Commission’s 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload standard. According to a story in FierceWireless…

AT&T said it is currently testing fixed wireless local loop (WLL) technology in select areas of the country with local residents who want to try the service, including in Alabama, Georgia, Kansas and Virginia, and is seeing speeds of around 15 to 25 Mbps.

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FCC muni preemption decision could limit California broadband oversight

1 October 2015 by Steve Blum
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CPUC’s broadband authority depends on federal law.

Tennessee and North Carolina are challenging the FCC’s ruling earlier this year that preempted state restrictions on municipal broadband. The central argument is whether congress gave the FCC sufficient authority to override what is usually reckoned to be the ironclad state responsibility of telling local governments what they can and can’t do. The FCC based its ruling on section 706 of the telecommunications act of 1996, which says…

The Commission and each State commission with regulatory jurisdiction over telecommunications services shall encourage the deployment on a reasonable and timely basis of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans…by utilizing, in a manner consistent with the public interest, convenience, and necessity, price cap regulation, regulatory forbearance, measures that promote competition in the local telecommunications market, or other regulating methods that remove barriers to infrastructure investment.

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Charter CFO paints rosier than real merger schedule for investors

30 September 2015 by Steve Blum
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Sure, dude. How fast do you want it?

You gotta love optimists. Christopher Winfrey, the chief financial officer of Charter Communications, is telling investors that the proposed purchase of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks will be done and dusted by the end of the year. That jet propelled schedule is fuelled by the assumption that the Federal Communications Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission know everything they need to know already, because it’s the same bunch of companies that were involved in the failed Comcast mega-merger, minus Comcast.… More

No surprises as CPUC begins review of Charter-Time Warner-Bright House deal

29 September 2015 by Steve Blum
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Charter Communications is asking the California Public Utilities Commission for permission to buy cable systems belonging to Time Warner and Bright House Networks. Yesterday saw the opening round of wrangling over the transaction, with a CPUC administrative law judge hearing from lawyers representing the companies involved on the one side, and representatives from the CPUC’s office of ratepayer advocates, consumer lobbying groups and a couple of cities on the other (full disclosure: one of those representatives was me).… More

Tennessee says FCC can't step on states' authority over cities

24 September 2015 by Steve Blum
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Rock solid sovereignty.

The State of Tennessee has offered its basis for challenging the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to preempt state restrictions on local broadband initiatives, making its case in a brief filed with a federal appeals court in Cincinnati.

Tennessee’s top line argument is that congress has no authority under the U.S. constitution to tell states how to manage or delegate authority to subordinate units such as cities and counties. On its own, that probably won’t fly – states have broad but not unlimited discretion.… More